


may these memories break our fall

by afire



Series: hold on to spinning around [2]
Category: Girl Meets World, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Hogwarts AU, Hogwarts Crossover, anyway, fuck u he hates law and order he just wanted to be a auror because he was 16 and it seemed cool, ya okay i rlly like harry as a dada teacher
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-07-10 22:30:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7010980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afire/pseuds/afire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They're learning about the Patronus Charm in Defense Against the Dark Arts.</p><p>(or: riley's worried that they don't match, maya knows better)</p>
            </blockquote>





	may these memories break our fall

"Since you guys are in your Sixth Year here at Hogwarts, you're going to need to study the Patronus Charm. The Patronus is your best weapon against a Dementor, who can tell me why?"

Maya doodles on the corner of her parchment, trying her best to act as if she knows the answer and is simply just not raising her hand. She sneaks a glance toward her left, where Riley is sitting with her back ramrod straight, hand in the air because of course she knows the answer.

"Yes, Miss Matthews?"

"A Patronus is a physical representation of a happy memory, and because a Dementor feeds off despair, your Patronus can chase it away."

"Very good Miss Matthews, five points to Hufflepuff."

Riley preens and Maya has to hide a smile in the sleeve of her robes.

Professor Potter is continuing on. "There are two different kinds of Patronuses, what are they? Miss Hart?"

Maya groans inwardly and looks up, reaching into the corners of her mind in an attempt to remember everything she can about Patronuses.

"Uh, corporeal and non-corporeal?"

Professor Potter looks impressed, he smiles genuinely at her. "Correct, five points to Slytherin. Can you tell me what else you can use your Patronus for other than chasing Dementors away?"

Riley prods her in the side and subtly points to her mouth. Maya grins her thanks and sits up straighter. "You can use your Patronus to send messages."

"Excellent, take another five points for Slytherin. Now, everyone pair up and start practicing. You shouldn't be able to produce a corporeal Patronus until a while later, use today's lesson to focus on picking a good memory to use."

Riley's chair scrapes backward and a second later she's standing in front of Maya, bouncing on the balls of her feet with an excited smile on her face. Maya gets to her feet slower, shoving her parchment and quill into the bag sitting under her desk, assuming that she isn't going to need them anymore. Not that she's been using them in the first place.

"Alright honey, do you want to go first?"

Riley's wand is already in her hand and she nods eagerly, pushing her desk against the wall so there's a tiny alcove in the corner where they can practice the spell. Maya hops up onto her own desk, swinging her legs as she waits for her girlfriend to think of a good memory. The corners of Riley's eyes crinkle when she squeezes them shut to think and Maya has to resist reaching out to smooth them over with her thumb because if she does that, nothing is going to get done this lesson.

Riley's eyes open and she stares at the empty space in front of her wand for a moment before drawing a loose circle in the air.

"Expecto Patronum."

A shapeless cloud of silver mist materializes in front of her shimmers for a fraction of a second before dissolving into the air.

"Did you see that? Something happened!"

Maya laughs and slides off the desk, coming forward to hug Riley around the middle from behind, squeezing tight.

"Yeah I saw, good job, honey."

Riley spins around in her arms, wrapping herself around Maya more securely.

"Thanks," she whispers, pulling back and grinning before kissing Maya on the cheek and bouncing backward, a bundle of energy.

"Your turn!"

Maya sighs and rolls her eyes, softening the motion by smiling back at Riley as she pulls her own wand out of her robes, twirling it around her fingers as she gets into position. To be perfectly honest with herself, she hasn't really given much thought to her own Patronus. Sure it seems cool and all but according to a lot of people, it requires lots of effort to actually get right. And Maya doesn’t really do 'a lot of effort'. She doesn’t do much at all really, except love Riley.

Now, a happy memory. She casts her mind back, squinting gently as she tries to pick out one that's strong enough to produce a Patronus. When she got her Hogwarts letter? That was happy but something tells her it isn't going to be enough. Quidditch captaincy? That one's a little better, but she doesn't think it'll be strong enough to actually produce a physical manifestation of her happiness.

The first time Riley kissed her.

She still remembers how she had felt, warmth spreading through her body, all the way to her toes. The feeling of absolute completeness when Riley's arms came to rest around her shoulders, and afterwards the giddy contentment of realizing that they had just skipped a class to make out in an old classroom.

Yes, that seems to be it.

She opens her eyes, small smile playing on her face as she draws a loose circle in the air with her wand, focusing hard on the way Riley's fingers felt tangled up in hers.

"Expecto Patronum."

A silver raven bursts forth from her wand, and the rest of the room falls silent. Maya watches as it soars once around the room before circling Riley's head once and dissolving into the air. She's gripping onto her wand so hard that her knuckles are white.

And then there's the sound of applause and Riley's warm arms are draping over her neck again. Professor Potter is standing in front of her, not bothering to hide the wide grin on his face.

"That was amazing Miss Hart, have you practiced this spell before?"

Maya wants to reply but she can feel Riley's warm breath on the back of her neck and it's honestly just a tad bit distracting. Just a little bit.

"Uh, no sir, I haven’t."

Professor Potter's eyebrows shoot up and he claps thrice just as the applause is dying down.

"That's brilliant Miss Hart, take twenty points for Slytherin."

The bell rings and everyone shuffles toward the exit, Maya barely listens to Professor Potter's shouts of reading up on the Patronus Charm and to think of a good memory to use for the next lesson. She picks up her bag and allows herself to be swept toward the door, making sure Riley's fingers don't slip out of her hand.

When they make it out into the hall, Riley pulls her into a tiny area underneath a window. Her girlfriend is practically vibrating with excitement.

"Peaches that was so great! And it was your first time trying it right?"

"I guess? I mean, I've never really thought about it."

"You're like, some kind of genius aren't you?"

Maya laughs, squeezing Riley's fingers once before tugging on her arm gently.

"If you say so, now come on let's go to lunch, I'm hungry."

✨ ✨ ✨

The best thing about being in her sixth year is that Maya gets free periods. The better thing is that since Slytherins share so many classes with Hufflepuffs, Riley's free periods often collide with hers. The best thing is that they often spend their free periods in an empty classroom practising spells or doing homework or making out. Maya prefers the third option, Riley usually agrees for a minute or two before taking out a textbook and then Maya pouts and gets to work.

Today they find themselves on the third floor and Riley tugs them into one of the empty classrooms before Maya can get her bearings. She plops her bag down on a chair before looking around. Riley is grinning slyly at her and it's only then she realizes that they're in the classroom from her happy memory, where Riley first kissed her.

She almost laughs but manages to reign it in, taking out her wand instead and pointing at Riley.

"Come on then, you have to practice the Patronus Charm."

Riley is still grinning as she spins around and produces her wand with a flourish and this time Maya really does laugh. She crosses the room to clamber onto a desk next to her girlfriend, bringing up her legs to sit crisscross applesauce and resting her hands on her lap.

"Can you do yours again?"

"Do I have to?"

"For me?"

Maya can't argue with that. She picks up her wand and mutters the words for the spell, her memory coming to mind easily since she's sitting in the exact same room. She watches as her raven appears, casting its silver hue around the room, once again circling Riley's head once before disappearing.

"I'm still just as impressed as the first time you did it."

Maya huffs out a breath of warm air, tucking her wand back into her robes. " Your turn now, do you have a good memory to use?"

Riley dithers about and taps her wand to her chin, frowning slightly.

"Not really, I mean I thought the one I used last lesson was alright but I didn't produce a corporeal Patronus like you did so I suppose it isn't enough."

Maya hums thoughtfully, swaying back and forth gently as she scrutinises her girlfriend. "Well I'm sure you have a thousand more happy memories to use."

"What was yours?"

"Hmm?"

"The memory you used, it must have been great since you got a corporeal Patronus on the first try."

Maya puffs her cheeks out, casting her eyes downward as she tries to delay answering the question. She hears Riley step forward and then there are cold fingers on her chin and her head is being raised so Riley is looking her in the eye.

"Peaches."

Maya blinks twice, sighs, and reaches up to hold Riley's hand in her own, twining their fingers together as she lets them rest on her lap.

"That time after Transfiguration, when you dragged me in here and told me you loved me."

"Our first kiss."

Maya blushes, tugging at Riley's arm so that the other girl takes another step forward and she can rest her head against her collarbone.

"Yeah."

It's silent for a moment, and then Riley steps back. Maya's disappointed for a moment at the loss of contact but then her girlfriend bends down a little and cups her face with slender fingers.

"Guess what?"

Maya tries to form a coherent response but somewhere along the way she loses her words and all she can say is, "What?"

"I love you."

Maya laughs breathily, unconsciously leaning forward. She still hasn't gotten over this, the fact that she can kiss Riley now and there isn't going to be any repercussions. She's probably never going to get over it, all things considered.  "I love you, too."

Riley smiles, shuffles closer to the table that Maya is sitting on. Maya has to remind herself to breathe.

"I love you, and I'm going to make my happy memory right now."

Maya's question is lost in her throat when Riley leans forward and presses their lips together. She tastes like spring mornings and honey, Maya sighs into the kiss as her hands fumble forward to catch somewhere on Riley's waist, trying to pull her closer even though it's practically impossible.

Riley pulls away with a grin and Maya's sure she sees stars. Her girlfriend picks up her wand from where she dropped it on the table, stepping backward and lifting it into the air to draw the loose circle that signifies the Patronus Charm.

"Expecto Patronum."

Maya's lips are still tingling as the silver wolf bursts into life, running a lap around the room and painting the walls silver. It leaps once over her head before vanishing into mist.

Riley claps happily while Maya stares at her girlfriend in amazement. She gets up from the desk, making her way over and sliding her arms around the other girl to hug her tightly. "That was so great."

Riley hums her thanks, returning the hug for a couple of seconds before pulling away. "You're so great," she says softly, and Maya honest-to-god melts. She reaches up to twine her arms around Riley's neck, pulling gently so that their foreheads are touching.

"I guess we both have our memories now."

"Mmm yeah, no harm in making a few more though."

If they spend the rest of the period making out, no one has to know.

✨ ✨ ✨

They're sitting in the library, tucked somewhere in the back, next to dusty books that the students of Hogwarts rarely need to use. Maya has a tome of old Muggle fairytales and she's mumbling certain words under her breath as she reads. Riley is off somewhere looking for her own piece of literature, Maya can see her girlfriend out of the corner of her eye, flitting between shelves, looking for all the world like an energetic library fairy. Do those exist? Probably.

"Peaches, look!"

Maya's head tilts up as she uses a finger to pinpoint where she stopped reading, bringing the index finger of her other hand up to her lips to remind Riley that they're still in the library and Madam Pince is going to flay them alive if she catches them making too much noise.

"What's up?"

"I found a book on Patronuses," Riley whispers, tiptoeing back to their table and putting it down before sliding onto the bench next to Maya and pressing their sides together. Maya allows herself to enjoy the warmth for a heartbeat before decisively pushing away the fairytales she had been reading and paying attention as Riley flips to the page she wants them to look at.

"I'd have thought you had enough of Patronuses this week."

"They're interesting! And really pretty."

Maya can't deny that, though she thinks Riley's wolf is much prettier than her raven. She also thinks both their Patronuses look great together, Professor Potter made them both cast the spell at the same time after he found out Riley could do it too ("Wonderful Miss Matthews, twenty points to Hufflepuff.") and then proceeded to ask them to go around the room and help the rest of their classmates. Riley agreed readily, Maya only said yes because Riley told her to.

Her girlfriend flips one of the pages back and forth before she flattens the old paper and points to one of the paragraphs, clearing her throat dramatically. Maya swallows a laugh and tangles their fingers together under the table.

"Look! It says here that sometimes if a witch or a wizard has a strong emotional bond with another witch or wizard, their Patronuses might match in some way."

"Huh, never knew that."

"Oh look someone scribbled into the margin!"

"What's it say?"

"Shh, I'm trying to read."

Maya shoulders her girlfriend, rolling her eyes when Riley giggles quietly. She leans in to kiss her quickly, stopping the laughter before Madam Pince can shush them.

"Come on then, you're trying to read."

Riley huffs once before her eyes snap back to the page, looking for the scribbles that caught her eyes before. Maya is content with leaning against the other girl and watching the half-smile on her face.

"There, okay, I can't quite make out-"

"Yeah, you can."

"Maya."

"Sorry, continue."

"I don't really know what it says but there's something about a 'Prongs' and an 'Evans' and their Patronuses matching. There's a doodle of a stag and a doe, aww it's cute."

"That's cool, I bet I love you more though."

Riley shuts the book with a quiet snap, rubbing her thumb over the back of Maya's hand. Maya allows a few seconds of silence before sitting up.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm just, it's nothing important but, I was just thinking about our Patronuses and how they-"

"Don't match?" Maya asks softly, turning to face Riley and reaching for her other hand.

Riley nods once, shortly, before looking up and shrugging. "It shouldn't be important I mean, I love you and I know you love me but I just- it would have been nice to see, you know?"

"Hey, Riles, wanna know what I was reading?"

Riley shifts so she's facing Maya properly, "Yeah, okay."

"I was reading a fairytale about a girl who was turned into a raven because her father angered a witch, and she could only turn back into a girl on the night of the full moon. She lived like that for many years, until one night she came across another girl. The moon was full in the sky so she assumed the form of a human and approached this other girl. They talked through the night, and the raven-girl forgot about her curse, the sun started to rise before she could find a place to hide, and she was suddenly a raven once more. She thought the other girl would run away, but when she looked around the other girl was gone, and in her place stood a beautiful wolf."

Maya pauses, watches the realization spread across Riley's face and smiles. Her girlfriend blinks once before asking, "What happened next?"

"It's a fairytale, honey. They fall in love and live the rest of their lives together."

The library is quiet save for their soft breathing, and it's not for a while until Riley speaks up again. "You totally made that up, didn’t you?"

Maya laughs, shaking her head. "Not really, I mean, there was a story about ravens and wolves, I just edited it a bit."

"Or a lot."

"Riles, honey, I've read lots and lots of fairytales. Wolves and ravens are always, always, the best of friends. We match, whether you want to or not."

Riley moves to kiss her once, quickly. "Well, we've already fallen in love. Do you want to live the rest of our lives together?"

"If you're asking me to marry you, I think we're a little too young."

Riley pouts, "Maya, I'm trying to be romantic here."

"You're always romantic, honey." Maya leans forward to kiss the pout away, whispering her next words against Riley's lips. "And my answer is yes."

Riley smiles, showing her perfect pearly whites, and Maya takes a second to wonder just how she got this amazing girl to go out with her, but then Riley's lips are crashing into hers again and she finds herself incapable of any thought for the next half an hour.

**Author's Note:**

> i wasn't fucking around when i said wolves and ravens are connected, they really do go back a long way in folklore and myths. besides, i think they fit my Gay Children pretty well. find me on tumblr @fightiingdragons


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